The Original
by tmntfan4eva
Summary: Set after Till Next Time. A price for every thing, a price for every thing. Rick is offered the most priceless of things - the life of his original Summer. It sets his world spinning and forces him to face a part of his past he hasn't thought about in years.


**Okay, so the jumping off point for this story is a request from The Howling Behemoth I got like a year ago. Actually...almost to the day. Wow. So sorry for taking so long. lol It isn't exactly what was requested, but I incorporated elements of the request and ran with it. Part of the running with it was inspired by a piece by rnmwincii over on tumblr. You should know which one by the end. The song I listened to basically the whole time writing it was Rockabye. It's relevant, but probably only to me. lol But yeah I had way too much fun with it and I hope you all do too. Enjoy!**

Rick and the kids step out onto the dusty plain of dimension 24T. One big hunk of nothingness stretches before them, but that is to be expected. This place warps his coordinate calculations and he never ends up in the same place on any subsequent visits. It makes the tree he is looking for that much harder to find, but whatever. They need the exercise.

Morty of course can't just roll with the punches. "Um, Rick, isn't there supposed to, you know, be something here?" He rubs the back of his neck.

Rick throws his head back and sighs. "Morty, are you r-really gonna make me expl-plain this to you? Really really?" He looks hard at his grandson.

Summer plants her hands on her hips. "Yeah, Morty. Grandpa Rick knows what he's doing. But seriously, where the heck is the tree?"

Rick rolls his eyes. "Around. So let's start walking." He points ahead of them. He knows by the position of the sun which direction they need to go.

They only make it a few steps before a portal appears in their path.

Rick comes to an abrupt stop and throws his arms out in front of the kids. He narrows his eyes and regards the portal with heavy suspicion.

Out steps the familiar figure of Mr. Needful. "Hello, Rick."

Rick groans. "You again? How…how did you even manage to get ahold of a-my portal gun?" He crosses his arms.

Mr. Needful shrugs. "I'm just that smart." He twirls the gun.

Rick barks out a laugh. "Yeah, I think we _all_ know that's bullshit."

Summer smirks. "Yeah, Grandpa Rick kicked your ass ten times over – intelligence and physically. Me too. So don't make us do it again." She shrugs. "Or do. I'm always down to crush you." A fire lights in her eyes.

Mr. Needful scoffs. "Not particularly worried this time around." He picks at his nails. "Since you aren't all buffed out and all."

Morty looks back and forth between them. "Uh, Rick. Who-Who is this guy?"

Rick starts. "Oh. Right. You weren't there, huh? That was a Su-Summer adventure. This dick is the devil. But only in name. Really he's just a big loser."

Summer smirks and gives a firm nod. "The biggest loser."

Mr. Needful makes a soft sound of acknowledgement. "We'll see about that." He locks eyes with Rick. "Rick, I have a deal for you."

Rick raises a brow. "Do you now? Wh-What is it this time? Wanna trade me an oven mitt that'll make me the best cook in the world but will eventually make my hands fall off?" He snorts. "Yeah, no thanks."

Mr. Needful's eyes glint with malice and his lips curl into a smile. "No. Something so much better. I'm offering you your original Summer."

The smugness is wiped clean off Rick's face. His eyes widen, his throat constricts, and his heart skips a beat. His thoughts are thrown into disarray and he scrambles to gather himself together, to get what must be a pathetic expression off his face and regain his equilibrium.

"Psssh. Yeah, okay." Summer chuckles, amusement lighting in her eyes. "You clearly didn't do your homework. Unsurprisingly. Grandpa dropped that version of me like a sack of potatoes. If he'd wanted her then he'd have saved her like he did Morty."

Morty blinks at Summer, his mouth hanging slightly. He can't believe how nonchalantly she can say that. Rick _abandoned_ her. Sure, a different version of her, but still her. Is she really so confident in herself that she believes the same thing won't happen again?

"Besides," Summer looks unimpressed. "We saw that Summer get frozen by some other Ricks. And I _know_ you aren't powerful enough to bring people back from the dead."

Morty peers up at Rick out of curiosity. He has been oddly silent the past few seconds. He is taken aback by the blank expression of Rick's face. "R-Rick?" He swallows hard.

Morty's voice jars Rick out of his thoughts and he snaps to attention. He blows out a breath to steady himself before saying, "Like the kid said. She's dead. Frozen," he curses himself as his voice cracks around the word dead.

Mr. Needful's gaze darkens. "You'd love that to be the truth, wouldn't you?"

Rick clenches his fists and looks hard at the devil. "It _is_ the truth. This is my Morty. And my Summer." He recites a mantra he beat into himself all those years ago when he was trying to get over the fact he had jumped universes and left everyone else to suffer without a Summer. It was the only way to cope.

Mr. Needful scoffs. "You really want to play this game? Fine." He waves his arm and in a flash a figure appears at his side.

Rick chokes on air. It is the perfect image of his granddaughter – the original. Her hair back in the trademark ponytail, a broad grin plastered across her face, and her eyes so full of life. The only thing separating her from the Summer at his side is her size. She is much shorter and of course much less jaded.

Summer makes a face. "What the heck? Is that supposed to be me?" She turns her nose up. "I look like I'm ten."

Mr. Needful nods. "Eleven actually. Eleven exactly." He fixes his gaze on Rick. "Isn't that right, Rick?"

Rick is painfully short of breath. He opens and closes his mouth around empty words. This…can't be real. This is impossible. No one has such power, especially not this idiot. He…he…

Morty frowns. "This can't be his Summer – or any Summer – she's too young." He gives the devil a dubious look.

Mr. Needful laughs. "Please. With infinite universes there are infinite possibilities. Even ones where Summer was born second." He clenches his hands. "Although that wasn't the case here, was it, _Rick?_ " His eyes swim with fire.

Rick does hear him or his grandkids. He drowns beneath the darkness of the past.

Summer scoffs, ignoring the accusation and scorn aimed at her grandfather. "Yeah, well, if you don't mind, it'd be great if you could get rid of mini me." She shudders. "She's reminding me of one of the worst times of my life."

Mr. Needful bows his head. "Me too."

Summer's brows knit together and she frowns. She regards him with heavy suspicion. "I don't-"

Rick narrows his eyes and lifts his head to bore a hole into the devil. "It's not real," he says with more steadiness than he thought he possessed. "My Summer was frozen. And she was seventeen. This..." He draws in a deep breath. "This girl is too young."

Mr. Needful sneers. "Shameless." He moves like lightening, shooting a dart at Rick.

Rick gasps as it sticks fast. His head spins and everything goes blurry. His legs feel like jello. And in the next instant he collapses in a heap on the ground.

"Rick!" Morty dives to his knees. "Oooh, geez. Rick! Are-Are you okay?"

Summer gapes for half a second, then her expression is seized with fury. "What did you _do_ to him?" She stomps forward.

Mr. Needful holds up a gun. "Don't make me hurt you."

Summer hesitates, but the anger does not dissipate.

Mr. Needful puffs out a breath. "I really don't want to hurt you, Summer," there is a certain affection wrapped around her name as it passes his lips.

Summer lips curl in disgust, especially at the way he says her name. "Oh, yeah? Well you sure as hell didn't have a problem with it the first time."

Mr. Needful shakes his head. "This is so much more complicated than you know. So I suggest you step back." He shifts the gun upward to indicate the direction she needs to go.

"Like hell!" Summer lunges.

Mr. Needful rears back and smacks the gun against her face.

Summer hits the ground hard. She hisses and presses a hand to her cheek. She gasps, the pain electric. Did he break something? She glowers up through loose strands of hair.

"Summer," he lingers on her name. "Don't worry. Your precious _grandfather_ will be fine," he says the word like a curse. A smile curls his lips. "Physically."

"What the _hell_ does that mean?" Summer snarls.

Mr. Needful shrugs. "I guess you'll find out when he wakes up." He shoots a portal. "Maybe before. It all depends on how much fun I decide to have. And how human he still is."

"Don't you-"

"Goodbye, Summer. Have a good life." He disappears through the portal and returns home. He doesn't waste a moment. He settles on his couch and plugs the device into his ear, falling into a deep sleep and entering a world he has waited so long for.

Summer pivots and scuttles on all fours over to Rick's side. "Can you get him to wake up?" He looks hard from Rick to Morty and back again. She didn't like the way the devil spoke about Rick and 'having fun' while he was asleep.

Morty shakes his head fervently. "I-I-I don't know-I don't think I can do anything." He pulls the dart from Rick's neck and peers at it. "Th-There was something in it and-and it is in his system now. I don't-can't-"

Summer lays a hand on Morty's shoulder. "Morty." She looks deep into his eyes. "It's fine. Okay? He'll be fine. Let's just take him home. Try and find an antidote."

Morty manages a weak nod.

Summer wraps her arm beneath one of Rick's arms. "Come on." She motions to Rick's other side.

Morty scurries to support Rick's other side and together they heave their grandfather to his feet.

Summer plucks the portal gun from Rick's pocket and sets it to their home. "Ready?"

Morty nods.

Summer creates the portal and they step through, back into the garage.

 **…**

Rick's eyes flutter open to a bleary world. No, the bleariness isn't a part of his surroundings. It's because he just woke up, but…from what. He frowns and his brows knit together. Oh, right. He groans. The devil dick. His vision begins to clear and he sits up. What he sees is a world of pure black. What the hell…? This can't be real. This isn't any dimension.

"How can you be so sure?" a voice echoes all around him.

Rick rockets to his feet. He tenses and whips around, searching for the source.

From the shadows steps a figure.

Every muscle in Rick's body goes rigid at the sight of them. " _You._ "

"Yes, me." The Morty with an eyepatch nods. "You didn't really think the devil would care enough to come after you again, did you?" He snorts and smiles derisively. "I didn't take you for an idiot, Rick."

"I-I'll show you who the idiot is." He snaps his hand into his pocket for his portal gun, his eyes widening when he feels nothing but cloth.

"Oops." Morty shrugs. "I guess your grandkids took it off you to get home." He laughs. "Well, I say grandkids, but we both know that is only a partial truth. They aren't really yours, not the originals."

Rick sneers. "Oh, yeah. And how would you know that? You-You're nothing but a Morty – a stupid, emotional, coward." He aims to cut. It's easier since it isn't the Morty he was traveling with on 24T, still he feels a part of him quiver on the inside and he is almost afraid a flash of guilt might have passed through his eyes.

Morty's lips curl back in a snarl. Then he closes his eyes, blows out through his nose, and when he opens them again his lips fall back into a flat line. "You still don't get it, do you?" He folds his hands behind his back. "But that's alright." He strides closer, past Rick. "If you did then it'd be too easy."

Rick spins, following Morty's movement.

Morty snaps his fingers and vanishes.

Rick starts. He looks all about him. What the hell? "What is this?" he bellows into the nothingness. "You-You can't manipulate dreams like this! It's mmmmy head, I control what happens." Since the devil, or crazy Morty as it turns out, tranqed him this can only be a dream.

"No," his voice bounces around the darkness. " _You_ can't. _I_ can."

Rick barks out a laugh. "As if. Some Mortys may not be complete imbeciles." He cringes as a memory slithers through his head, of a little boy putting shoes on and climbing a tree. "But _no_ Morty is smarter than a Rick."

"You'd be surprised by what the right motivation can do to a person."

Rick perks at the sound of footsteps. He looks around and freezes at the sight before him.

"Grandpa!" It is Summer as she was at six. She grins from ear to ear. "You came back!"

Rick's chest tightens and he can scarcely breathe. The words smash into him like a truck and the pain is crushing. They are a mirror of that time in his original universe.

Summer frowns and her shoulders slump. "Grandpa, what's wrong? Don't you remember me?"

Rick opens and closes his mouth, desperately searching for the words to say. Only there's nothing. Every time he comes close, the power of speech retracts, just out of grasp.

A three year old Morty bounces into view a moment later. "Rick?" He tilts his head.

"No…" Rick chokes out. "No…this isn't real. I-It's just a dream." He laughs, but the sound cracks just like his expression.

"You don't want me to be real?" Tears well in Summer's eyes. "Don't you love me?"

"Yes, of course." Rick breathes deeply in and out. "Just…just…" He backs away.

Summer's face lights up. She surges forward. "Then let's go on an adventure." She latches onto his hand and in the blink she has aged years. She is eleven. "Don't tell me you forgot. It's my birthday."

" _No._ " Rick yanks his hand away. " _Never._ "

Summer's face scrunches into a scowl. "Yes." Again she changes, this time to a tiny child. She is three and that defiant expression is all the more familiar. "I want something cool!" She jumps and grabs for his sleeve.

"S-Stop it," Rick doesn't speak to her so much as the person controlling this. He scuttles away, nearly falling over himself in his haste.

"No!" It isn't enough. Summer is just as fast. "Not until you give me something that doesn't suck."

"Yeah, Rick," a voice whispers in his ear. "Give her something cool."

Rick jerks around to see eyepatch Morty standing behind him.

Morty's gaze hardens. "Turn her on the path that sends her to her death."

" _Shut up._ " Rick punches at Morty.

Morty takes a step back, just out of range.

"Y-You, you can't know these things." He flings his hand out and points at the image of his granddaughter. Despite his efforts his hand trembles terribly as he points. In fact, his whole body is quivering ever so slightly.

"Of course I can." Morty circles Rick. "I downloaded the contents of your brain."

Summer sits down, her arms in a cradling position, and within her grasp appears Morty's tiny body. She peers intently at the baby's face, intrigued by this rare opportunity. "When will you be back?" she looks up at Rick as she says it.

In a breath the scene smears and regroups, forming a Summer who seizes a three year old Morty and draws him close to her. Terror contorts their faces and she screams.

It is bone chilling and a shudder rips through Rick. Too familiar. Too real. His heart beats faster just like when he was in the moment itself.

A shadow falls over the children as the enormous bird looms above them. It jolts forward, dives for blood.

Summer shoves Morty and shields him.

The bird clamps its beak around her arm. It twists and jerks its head, tearing her delicate flesh and causing her blood to flow freely.

Rick gasps and shies away from the scene. " _Stop._ " He grips his head. "I didn't see this. I-I…there's no way. I di-didn't…didn't see this last time." He had shot without taking in the scene. Only once the bird was good and dead did he truly notice Summer bleeding.

"No." Morty stops in front of Rick and pierces him with his icy stare. "But I did."

Rick gapes. "W-What?" he says weakly.

Morty steps away and allows another scene to play.

Rick watches in horror as he sees himself rush toward Summer – broken and bleeding. "Summer," he hears his voice crack, "are you alright? Talk to me."

Rick clamps his hands over his ears. No, no, no, _no._ His body shakes. He can't do this. Not again. It was torture living it. He doesn't need to relive it. But his efforts don't keep the sounds out.

Summer whines and whimpers. "G-Gran…pa…Rick…?" She squeezes out. She pitches forward and is racked with coughs. Blood spews from her lips and onto his shirt. "S-Sorry," She sobs. "So sorry…" She coughs again.

Rick screams. He sinks to the ground and pitches forward, refusing to watch the scene. But the blood already sears his eyes, branded onto his brain. When he closes his eyes there is nothing but her body and the blood _so much_ blood. Convulsions wrack his body. "P-Please…" He chokes out. Tears well up and over, streaming down his face. " _Please…_ make it stop. I can't…can't…" All the while the sounds of that scene play loud and clear.

Morty scoffs. "Can't what Rick? Can't handle your own selfishness?" Morty bends to his level and forces Rick to sit straight, to look at him. "I'll admit, I was impressed by just how much emotion you displayed when it happened – when my sister _died._ Still," he shakes his head. "It wasn't good enough."

Rick sobs. "God-Goddamnit, Morty. You don't think I'm sorry? You don't think I wish I could take it back? Every-Every fucking day?" He squeezes his eyes shut as the scene reaches the climax and he hears Summer whisper I love you. "Christ, just-just make it stop." He doesn't want to see her die. He _can't_.

Morty sighs and pauses the scene. "You know, I may not have been as adventurous as Summer, may have been too afraid – downright terrified even – of everything that came with your presence to want to go out with you, but I never hated you. In fact, for years I lived in awe of you. How brave and smart you were, but also kind. I never thought you were cruel, not like dad said. You made my sister happy." His gaze darkens. "Until that day."

Morty switches scenes, spares him of having to watch those final moments. "That day, you didn't just kill my sister. You crushed our souls."

Seven year old Morty stands motionless, staring vacantly at the crumpled form set before him. That's Summer. Somewhere in his scattered mind he realizes this, yet it doesn't connect either. Not really. Not the way it's supposed to. He should feel something, right? Anger? Sadness? Guilt? He's sure of it. And yet…nothing.

His eyes take in every inch of his sister. That's not right either. He shouldn't care about the details. Yet he finds himself doing it anyway. He notes the two stab wounds that pierce her stomach, the sheet white color of her skin, the trickles and droplets of blood splattered about her mouth. Strangely enough the last thing he notices is just how much dried blood there is around the stab wounds.

He isn't sure how long he stands there, simply staring. But eventually his mother's scream splits the air and snaps him out of his stupor. His father's scream comes next and then something within Morty snaps. The reality of the situation crashes down on him and he feels them – the tears. His heart is seized in a vice grip and he suffocates beneath the weight of loss. That's his sister. It is. He sobs softly to himself. Then a thought strikes him. He peers up through blurry vision, across the street. He half expects to see Rick standing there, watching. Waiting to swoop in. Be a hero somehow. He can fix this. Surely.

"Only you never came back," Morty seethes. "You _abandoned_ us. Left her on the fucking doorstep and ran. Just like the coward dad always said you were. For weeks – _weeks_ – I waited. I stupidly clung to the hope that you were coming back. That you'd piece back together what you'd broken." His lips curl in a snarl. "It was on my eighth birthday that it finally sunk in. The day I could only say I existed because my body was most definitely there and I knew I was real. Other than that?" He spits out a laugh. "I might as well have been nothing more than a shadow on the wall. There was no celebration, no presents, no nothing but more crying and screaming between my parents. Which, I could have lived with that, honestly. How sad is that? But you know what I couldn't live with? You acting the same."

Rick looks away from Morty. That's right. It's been so long he forgot about that. He wipes at his eyes, tries to clear away at least one sign of his weakness. "Morty…I…"

Morty ignores him. "When neither you nor an otherworldly gift showed up, that's when I knew. You were never coming back. And that's the moment everything changed. _I_ changed." He releases Rick and stands. "From that moment on everything I did was to destroy you. Bit. By. Bit. One shred of sanity after the other. That's why I'm smarter than you. The Morty who defeated a Rick."

Rick scowls. "I'm going to wake up, you know." He smirks. "And I'm going to make sure this never happens again. That I kill you."

Morty barks out a laugh. "Yeah, see, I don't think you will. Yeah, you'll figure out how to prevent this," he motions at the area around them, "but you won't kill me." He shakes his head. "No. Too many memories. I am the original after all. The one you cradled in your arms, the one whose first word was your name, who you shared that very first adventure with, and the one you loved so much you made sure I knew I was loved by someone at least once a year. Not enough to stay for, but…there was love. As much as you try to divorce yourself from that reality, you are sentimental. Despite what you make everyone else think."

Rick swallows down the rising emotion as he remembers each and every one of the moments.

"Your new Morty really is a cheap imitation compared to that, isn't he? For the genuine awe I felt watching that creature on the first adventure. The genuine pride and pleasure you felt."

Rick gnashes his teeth and glowers up at Morty.

"Yes, I watched that too. How you pathetically tried to relive that moment you had with me." He grins cruelly. "And how he didn't even spare a moment." He laughs. "We just aren't the same, no matter how close the realities. Isn't that right?"

"Yeah, you're right. Because this Morty, _my_ Morty, isn't a monster."

Morty makes a soft sound of acknowledgement. "Monster, huh?" He shrugs. "Maybe I am. But everything that I am, it's all _your_ fault. You created this monster, Rick. And now you have to live with it." His lips twist into a devilish smile and his eyes spark with malice. "If you can bear to live at all after this." He snaps his fingers and vanishes.

For a long minute everything is eerily quiet. Rick looks around, his breathing only slightly heavier than it should be. Then it starts. That scene. Her _death._ It plays out just like before.

Rick grabs his head and digs his nails in deep. He breaks down in increments. He cries, sobs, shakes with terrible fierceness, and curls into a ball on the floor as he is forced to watch the life drain from his granddaughter's eyes.

Only it doesn't stop at the end. Not this time. With no one to stop it, it starts again. It loops into infinity. He screams.

 **...**

"What the _hell_ is happening?" Summer watches in horror as tears roll down Rick's face and cringes at the scream that pierces the air. She thought after he calmed down from the first time that he'd wake up. But now it only seems to have gotten worse.

Morty shakes his head. He shies away from looking at Rick. "I-I-I don't…don't know. He's having a-a-a nightmare I guess I don't know, I…" He runs his fingers through his hair to try and steady himself. Oh geez. What a bloodcurdling sound. He covers his ears. Why'd he volunteer to keep the old man's head in his lap? It's making this so much harder.

"Damn it Morty, we have to _do_ something." Summer rushes around the garage, grabbing every vile she can get her hands on and knocking over more than a few. "God, why can't he label these? Fucking damn it." She chucks one against the wall. It sizzles and eats through a portion of the wall as it drips down. "NOPE. Not that one." She throws her hands in the air.

Morty uncovers his ears and peers meekly up at his sister. "S-Summer…we've already tried-tried all the s-s-stuff we know that wakes people up. We just…we just have to wait. It's the only safe way."

" _Wait?_ " Summer's eyes blaze. "Look at him Morty." She flings her hand in Rick's direction. "He's falling apart at the seams." She drops to her knees besides Rick. "Grandpa! Grandpa Rick, _come on._ Wake up." She shakes him by the shoulders. "It's not real. Whatever it is – it's. Not. Real."

Rick is all but dead curled up on the floor of this dark, dark world. There are no more tears to be cried, no more energy to shake, and no voice left to scream. That horrid scene has played out at least twenty times now, probably more. Her voice rings in his ears, crushing one more piece of him with each and every syllable.

"Grandpa Rick." There is an echo.

Rick ignores it, curling further into himself.

"Grandpa Rick!" Louder this time.

Rick dares to peek up.

"You stubborn asshole! Wake up!"

Rick blinks. That's…not the past. That's…seventeen year old Summer.

"Summer," Morty's whiny voice is softer, but it breaches the fog all the same. "Don't talk to him that way. It's not like he's doing it on purpose."

"I don't care! Wake. Up."

Rick starts as his body jostles, back and forth, back and forth. It isn't harsh like he knows it should be, but he can feel it. "Summer…" His voice is raw.

Summer's image flickers before him. "Grandpa!" her voice is as clear as if she was right beside him. She reaches a hand out to him. "Don't make me punch you."

Rick snorts. He pushes himself up on shaking limbs and reaches out for her. His hand goes right through hers, but it is enough.

Rick's eyes snap open and he gasps for air as he shoots up into a sitting position. It's hard to see, but for completely different reasons than before. There is no darkness, only blinding light. He's back…he's really back. Thank God. He grips his head.

"Rick!" Morty scuttles around so he is facing his grandfather. "Oh my God I-I-I'm so glad you're okay." He smiles.

Summer lets out a long breath. "See? Told you yelling was the solution." She shoots Morty a smug look.

Rick blinks and tears shake free. Oh. He lifts a hand and runs his finger along his face. His cheek is soaked with tears. The dreams were so intense that they must have transferred over into reality.

Morty ducks his head and averts his eyes. "Uh, Rick, are you, um, okay? You were…uh…"

Summer frowns. "Crying. And screaming. A lot." She pulls at a loose strand of hair. "Kiiinda freaked me out."

For a long moment Rick doesn't move. Then he shoots forward and engulfs the children in a hug. He holds on tight, digging his fingers into the smalls of their back. He feels himself shaking, but he doesn't even try to get it under control. He just lets it out along with the tears.

Morty and Summer start. They exchange looks full of uncertainty. "Rick…?"

"I'm sorry," He sniffles. "Just…I need this. Okay? Let me have this." He can't bear to speak of the things he saw. He just can't. They'd only hate him if they knew anyway. So this is all that's left to soothe him.

Summer wraps an arm around him and returns his embrace. "Okay, grandpa."

Morty's frown deepens and his heart sinks further. Something is wrong, so very wrong. Whatever Rick saw in there messed him up like none of their adventures have ever come close to. He should say something, he knows it in his very bones that he should, yet in the end he does not. He hugs his grandfather. "It's okay, Rick. Whatever happened, it's over." It's the best he can offer without prying.

Rick puffs out a breath, a pained smile splitting his lips. If only that was true. Unfortunately this nightmare of his life is never over. "Thanks, kids." He rests his head on their shoulders, allows himself to relax within their grasps. But for this one short moment, perhaps he can pretend it is. "Thanks." After all, he has them. His two precious grandchildren. His only two reasons to live.

 **Haha yeah so happy I got to do my Evil Morty theory. It was pretty heavily implied in Till Next Time but now you know exactly how I imagine it. Hopefully I'm a good enough writer that you got it, but I'll say it anyway, Evil Morty was using a cloaking device to look like Mr. Needful as well as make young Summer appear and he used a variation of the dream inceptor from season 1 to get into Rick's head with him and control everything. No, I don't really think this will turn out to be canon but I'll stick with it until canon says otherwise. It's fun.**

 **And that song? It's relevance is that it reminds me of Rick and young Summer during the chorus. Yep. Anyway,** **The Howling Behemoth, I know it wasn't exactly what you asked for but I hope you liked it. Everyone else too. It's been way too long since I stretched my Rick and Morty writing muscles. If I didn't do them justice do tell me and if you loved it tell me too. Please review!**


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